On Jan. 24 in Minneapolis, U.S. citizen Alex Pretti was fatally shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents Jesus Ochea and Raymundo Gutierrez. Pretti was shot while U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers were attempting to arrest him while he was legally recording the officers on his phone.
As described in a statement from Pretti’s parents, Michael and Susan, Pretti was a “kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends, and the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA Hospital.”
Pretti was one of two shooting-related deaths of U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis; the other, Renée Good, was killed on Jan. 7. In an article by KTVU Fox, it was stated that Pretti’s death was ruled a homicide by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.
It was determined by officials that Pretti had a 9mm semiautomatic handgun with him during the time of his murder. However, as Minnesota is an open carry state and he had a permit, his possession of the firearm was legal.
Videos from witnesses do not show Pretti “brandish” the weapon or “attack” officers, despite what Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had claimed.
Mike Welsh, chair of the Political Science Department at KSC, said “Their [Pretti and Good] deaths are breaking through the clutter in a way that is forcing the tactics and selection methods of ICE, and deportation mandate, back onto its heels. And I think that is having an immediate effect in terms of public policy.”
When asked if he feels their deaths will affect future elections, Welsh said, “I think so. I think we’ll move on in the news cycle and other things are going to happen, but we’re already seeing that this has enough resonance with people that they’re not likely to forget.”
Greg Bovino, a sector chief in Border Patrol who’s worked for the department since 1996, was removed from his position in Minneapolis as a result of Pretti’s death. Bovino has described his agents’ tactics as “Legal, ethical, and moral”, according to a New York Times article published on Feb. 3.
In the wake of Pretti’s death, there have been tense conversations between gun rights groups and Trump administration officials regarding the Second Amendment and citizens’ legal ability to carry a weapon at protests or demonstrations. FBI director Kash Patel falsely stated to Fox News that it is illegal to carry guns at protests.
Both Bovino and Noem have claimed that Pretti’s intention at the protest [that he was killed at] was to harm law enforcement, according to an article in The Guardian. Bovino and Noem’s reasoning is based on the fact that he was carrying.
Junior Jack Mahony said that he feels Pretti’s death was one of the scariest and saddest instances of 2026, arguably the 2020s as a whole.
Mahony continued with, “Blatantly murdering a man with a concealed gun… He never even took it out. There was no reason. They killed him because he was a protester.”
Alex Pretti’s father, Michael Pretti, said to the Associated Press that his son took part in anti-ICE protests because he cared about people deeply and was upset with what had been happening throughout the United States involving ICE.
Welsh said that an aggressive agenda that may have been in place for Minneapolis may no longer be seen as “politically viable”.
When asked how Pretti and Good’s deaths will impact politics going forward, he said, “It’s allowing Minneapolis to look like a model to other places that might’ve had this in the future. So that’s kind of problematic for the tactics and agenda.”
In regard to what future political campaigns might look like, specifically in 2026, Welsh said, “Tariffs have a complex kind of economic angle to them. Foreign policy also has some potential complexities attached to it. This doesn’t seem terribly complicated. And I think it’s breaking in a way, it’s decomplicated in a way that doesn’t necessarily serve the Republican party. We’re starting to see that in elections and calls for different behaviors from ICE and law enforcement.”
Samantha Menard can be contacted at
